THE SAVIAC PARACHUTE STORY BY JOHN PIERSON AND ROD MURPHY

A foreword to John's story of the SAVIAC by Derek de Kock

 Time has dimmed my memory but in approximately 1974 soon after we had started to train the
Selous Scouts in HALO parachuting, it became very evident that the Safety Equipment Section could not cope with the limited number of parachutes available for the increased training and operational needs. I made all sorts of noise to Air Force H.Q. and one day a civilian came into the PTS Hangar and asked me how many parachutes we needed and what type we would like. At the time we had tried out some SAVIAC Mk2 parachutes which appeared to be very similar to the British Tactical Assault parachutes we had tested. The British T.A. originally had a deployment fault which we had rectified with #18 thread some time back, as mentioned in a previous chapter. We had also tried out PT 10 American parachutes and were using them on a daily basis. However, due to their rip stop type material, repairs were becoming a problem for the very hard pressed Safety Equipment Workers. The SAVIAC static line parachute was the answer to our problems. I seem to remember the order placed with the gentleman who visited me that day was for 400 SAVIAC Mk2 Free Fall parachutes with the proviso that each one had a KAP 3 automatic opener. I also seem to remember that 3600 SAVIAC static line parachutes with 360 reserves would keep us out of trouble. I have no idea exactly how many parachutes we actually received but we were always able to draw enough to keep us going in PTS. for training and later on Fire Force. Derek de Kock

The above photograph is of myself coming in to land in the pit close to the mark during a competition against the South African Military. The parachute I am using is the SAVIAV Mk2 and the block construction of the canopy can be seen clearly.

This photograph from John Pierson clearly shows the block construction of theSAVIAC Mk1 parachute canopy. This particular canopy has been modified into what appears to be a TU modification or possibly a double L which would give the parachute a forward speed of approx 8km per hour. During the Rhodesian war on terror we had a number of T10 and SAVIAC Mk1 parachutes modified for use by HALO parachuting on moonless nights. On some of those occasions the parachutes were abandonded.

This photograph of a T10 parachute clearly shows the bias construction of the canopy. The X type parachute canopy was also manufactured using the bias construction method. This method supposedly made the parachute stronger in fact so strong the human body was unable to break it. 

THE STORY OF THE SAVIAC PARACHUTE 

WRITTEN BY JOHN PIERSON, ASSISTED BY ROD MURPHY

The Saviac is unique in that it was designed and initially manufactured by a person with no formal qualifications in parachute engineering.

J.R. (Rod) Murphy is an lrishman who did his first parachute descent in the UK Territorial Army at RAF Abingdon in 1961and his first civilian freefall from a Tiger Moth in Dublin in 1962. 

He obtained and studied official US military parachute rigger's manuals and civilian manuals, and started importing surplus US military 'chutes and modiifying them for sport use becoming a knowledgeable rigger and machinist. During this period he attended a number of courses at the official  School Of Parachuring in Chalon, France, enhancing his parachuting and rigging knowledge. 

In 1964 while competing for the lrish team in the World Parachuting Championships at Leutkirch, Germany, he learned that Pioneer a major US company were intending setting up Parachuting lndustries of South Africa (PISA). He applied for a post and was accepted. His position was Quality Control Manager.

In the process of getting immigration security clearance his papers attracted the attention of Col W. Louw the founder of the SA Parachute Battalion. He was called to an interview in London and it was Col Louw who interviewed him. He was asked to volunteer to train the 'Parabats' in freefall and said yes. His air ticket was taken care of. He arrived in SA in 1965. 

He ran military freefall courses and worked at PISA for a few years. Sanctions were biting and PISA was struggling to get raw materials. PISA was forced to buy the materiel to manufacture military  parachuting equipment from Israel at grossly inflated prices. He conceived the SAVIAC made from local materials and offered it to PISA who turned it down. He left PISA to set up his own business SA Aviation Centre/Skysports, involved in aviation, skydiving and the importation of sports parachute equipment in partnership with Robin Kerr. He started work on developing the SAVIAC.

However the fabric for the canopy proved elusive. One day he put his hand in his jacket pocket and the familiar feel of the lining rang a bell. He sourced the fabric to a manufacturer Gelvenor in Natal. They were able to weave the correct fabric for a parachute once they had learned to 'calendar' it, a heat and pressure process that decreases porosity. 

Once that had been achieved things started to fall into place. Braitex in Springs which manufactured seat belts and venetian blind cords could. manufacture the webbing, parachute rigging lines and reinforcing tapes. A Swiss company Hauser Scientific in Johannesburg had the necessary skills to manufacture the quick-release box. Finally the high quality hardware , metal D rings, hooks buckles and clips, which require a horrendously expensive manufacturing process were sourced via friendships Rod had made with major manufacturers and equipment providers in the US. Lowell Bachmann and Ted Strong acquired surplus and used military hardware, quality tested it, refurbished it and exported it to SA.

The canopy then used by the Army, the T10 was a good canopy but had minor flaws and was complex, and very difficult to manufacture and consequently expensive. The panels are cut on the bias, each panel consisting of many diamond-shaped sections sewn together. The rigging lines run from a lift web to the periphery of the canopy then through a tunnel sewn at the point where two panels meet through the apex and down a similar  tunnel on the opposite side to a lift web on that side. All of this makes it extremely difficult to assemble whilst simultaneously machining it. It is also a flat canopy with each panel a simple elongated triangle.

Rod mentally envisaged a much simpler canopy of similar dimensions. It was block constructed each panel consisting of a number of tapering horizontal blocks. The lines were simply attached by stitching to reinforcing tapes on the periphery, and finally the lower portion was parabolic or curved slightly like the underside of a pumpkin. All of these were known techniques making construction much simpler and descents more stable.

Murphy constructed one at SA Aviation  Centre, with help from Peter Barnard, and tested it with concrete blocks. He then tested it jumping himself and made many adjustments.

1 Parachute Battalion agreed to test them and  7 were constructed and each did 100 test jumps with the Parabats. It received Defence Force and Armscor approval. An initial order of 300 was issued which was beyond the capacity of SA Aviation Centre.

Murphy was considering purchasing PISA which was for sale but lacked the finance. He was approached by Richard Charter, a local skydiver of independent means who suggested they form a partnership to buy PISA. A legal agreement was signed between the two before Murphy discovered that Charter had  purchased PISA behind his back.

Fait Accompli, Murphy had no option but to licence PISA to manufacture the SAVIAC in return for  monthly royalty payments of a percentage of the revenue PISA received. Charter paid for two months and stopped. Murphy tried to take the matter to court but the original agreement document had mysteriously disappeared along with the librarian of the lawyer, David Starfield, who had drafted and witnessed it.

Legally there was nothing Murphy could do about it. PISA sold thousands of SAVIAC Systems to Rhodesia, South Africa, the Philipines and other countries.

Charter died in a boating accident many years ago. Murphy lives in Randburg and runs a successful business handling administration for various airlines.

Postscript : Ironically the current US military Parachute the C6A is virtually identical to later Mk's of the  SAVIAC .